The Joy of Losing

You’re devastated because your Olympic dream didn’t pan out, as you would have liked. Canada lost 2-0 to the Russians, and now your country won’t even get a chance to metal. Sounds harsh. You look like a mess though, as if your heart got torn in two. It hurts, I can tell by the expression on your face, and the tears that are soaked in your pillow. It will be all right though, time will pass and you will enter into another risk, where the joy of winning is euphoric, and the agony of defeat is almost unbearable. But think about it; if that agony weren’t always ready to overtake you, ready to pounce on you at every moment, then you would always win. You would always feel that joy, that elation that so many of us crave, and that my friend makes it entirely fake. It is essentially the risk of winning and losing that makes games and sports and other events fun to partake in. If there were no fear of losing, then the excitement would soon wither. I saw you on the table in the cafeteria where you were doomed in front of the President. Remember what he said? He said, “It’s true about these risks of winning and losing, and how what your going through now makes the joy you will experience latter all that more real and genuine, and the same thing applies to marriage.” You were baffled and I’m sure you still are, but I’ll let you chew on it for a bit. Could this risk so common in sports, be paralleled to the world of life and love. You think so. In fact, you know it.

Running on Empty

You feel drained hey? You feel like your being called upon over and over again with no room for anything else. Welcome to life I suppose. You need to learn to balance. You need to begin to manage your time with the utmost importance. Imagine for a moment the value of that moment of time. Next to the gift of life, I would see it as the single most valued piece of existence available. I remember when you were thinking of trying to add just two hours to your day. Just imagine having a day that contained 26 hours? What would you do with those precious additional moments? Would you take your time eating your dinner, to spend more quality time with your family? Would you write all those letters you promised to write so long ago? Perhaps you will finally clean your room that your roommate has been complaining so long about. Would you spend those two hours face down before the Lord, trying with all that is within you to meet Him, and grow your relationship? Perhaps you’ll spend your time snuggled in the warmth of your loved ones sweater, staying near that familiar sent just a little bit longer. Maybe you’ll spend those hours away at the mall, spending more time browsing the bargain department. Would you spend your hours in Never Never Land, choosing to dream for two hours longer having epic fantasies rolled out in your mind? It’s only two hours, but it would change your life. Here is the rub. You do not have those two extra hours. You never will. You are born with the equality that we humans all share. 24 hours. Do not worry though it is the same 24 hours as everyone else; Stephen Hawking’s, George Bush, Mother Theresa, Wayne Gretzky, your parents, your friends, and everyone else who is changing their world and yours. You have the same amount of time as they do. What will you do with your time? Make an impact.

Late But Not Too, Valentines

Hey, thanks for the Valentine. I can read it all over your face, your happy its Valentines day. Your looking around at all the reds pinks and white colors pasted all over this town you call home. You are watching the happy couples who seem even more lost in that blissful maze they call love. Is it not exciting to see the anticipation in the air? Imagine the thought life of a person who woke up expecting nothing. They saunter to their mailbox to see that little square piece of cardboard, screaming love in all its wonders. That small, seemingly insignificant, two dollar sheet with some obscure cartoon character on it, has the potential to bring a man to his knees in tears. Do not look at this day as a depressing moment on your journey of single hood. You need to see this day, and everyday, as a day that allows the opportunity to affect someone’s life for the better. Imagine the elation felt by someone that was not expecting a valentine, and you just happened to drop one of in their mailbox. It is just one day out of the year. But do not forget that you do not need just this day, but let it serve as a reminder for your whole year. Imagine the lives you will touch.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

I heard you felt like a spider. Funny thought, but don't worry, you should be excited about it. Although remember the life of a spider is a hard one. Especially the place your in. Your hanging while you propel slowly down your webbing onto who knows what, maybe nothing. Thing is there is going to be a drop. A drop of some significance is sure to ensue. You’re going to have to risk this drop, its inevitable. It’s because you have wandered too far on your own strength. And now you’re at a point in your life with all your eggs in one basket. That basket will break, and with that the string your life is hanging on. Don’t worry though, you’ll hit something, perhaps it will be the new freedom you’ve been looking for. Just remember it’s going to hurt. Immeasurable amounts, but He’ll be there through it all, even if it doesn’t feel that way. It’s worth it, because for new life you need to go through some sort of pain. Just ask those mothers birthing children you know that has to hurt. You’re going to new wonderful places. When the drop comes close your eyes, and relish the experience, because you’ve wasted a lot of time worrying about it. Leap. It will be great if you allow it to be. Jump little spider, jump.

Shifting

You can feel it can't you? You sit in your couch looking around for what's going on but you can't seem to locate it. You close your eyes, and try and hone in on what you now realize can't be seen. Nothing, except for a brief imagined blast of sound that you know yourself you made up. You can't see it or hear it, but you can feel it. Look around, what are all these people waiting for? The nighttime, the morning, mid-week? The next concert, birthday, assignment deadline, job interview, family vacation? Their waiting to live out their lives they way they were created to. You can feel it. The time is coming where your generation will be a witness to the speech they have begged for long to hear. Their own "I have a dream" or "we will fight on the beaches," motivating moment. Why when you heard these words in Coach Carter did you squirm because you thought that might be true..?

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Those words that pierce a being to the inmost place where we don't like to admit we have. It's coming. Look out the window, you said it yourself the trees seem a bit...shifted. Maybe ask around what others feel. Or don't, and let this pressure build until this bottle explodes, either way it's inevitable. It's coming, feel it...